The Blood of the Moon
by The Prince of Souls
Summary: One heinous, unforgivable crime. Artemis is impregnated by Orion, and she is scared. Her son is soon born, and a prophecy is given: judging the fate of Olympus. Will the Moon's Son step up to Olympus' most fearsome foes, before battling the curse of the Arcadian King whose children was slain by Zeus - the one that results in Death. The Blood of the Moon shall be spilt in vein. T/M
1. 1: Friendships Collapse

**And here is my newest creation, The Blood of the Moon!**

**I was sitting down one day, in school, and this idea popped into my head. I have high hopes for this story, however. Also, this will be PerZoë, so sorry to all Pertemis fans from my other two PJO stories. Well, I _plan_ for it to be PerZoë…**

***_WARNING: A MILD RAPE SCENE IS AHEAD!_***

**Yeah, it is like, a small one… Not a lemon, however. I'll never write those. I will give you a little heads-up, for those who hate that kind of crime.**

**Anyway, let's crack on with the first chapter! I hope you enjoy!**

**_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Blood of the Moon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_**

An arrow landed in the centre of a make-shift target.

The full moon hung high in the star filled sky, giving the dense forest a faint, silvery glow.

Another arrow soured through the air, splitting it in half.

"I think that I won that one, Artemis." A man grinned, turning to the girl next to him.

He had a tall, muscular frame. His skin was the colour of wheat toast. His hair seemed to be undercut, which was swept into spikes on top. He looked handsome.

He wore a black _exomis_, which was a short _chiton_ fastened on the left shoulder. A hunting knife was strapped to his side. He held a black bow in his left hand, his right hand reached over to his shoulder to his back, where he pulled out another arrow.

His eyes, however, ruined the image. At first glance, they would have been easily mistakes for a pair of high-tech, futuristic goggles. But, they were in fact bronze mechanical eyes embedded into his sockets. Focusing rings spun and clicked as he turned to his companion.

She, on the other hand, was drop dead gorgeous. She wore a simple knee-length _chiton_, tied with a cord at her waist. Her silky auburn hair was cut so it was roughly shoulder length. Her eyes were another story; they were strikingly beautiful silver.

"No, I win, Orion!" Artemis complained, a similar smile gracing her lips.

"Draw then?" Orion said, his smile faulting slightly.

"Fine!" Artemis' smile dropped slightly as well, hoping that her companion would just give in and admit that she won, even though it was a tie.

The pair of them was on a small hunting trip. Artemis, the goddess of hunting, the moon, childbirth and wild animals, had left her hunters at their own camp far away from her, while she went on a small expedition with her best friend. Her first male friend.

Orion, on the other hand, only had a few ideas running through his mind. It was how to get the goddess wrapped even more around his little finger.

She was head over heels for him. And it was all because of his hunting skills.

But he didn't care. He wasn't interested in her. His main interest was her being friends with him, but they continuously changed.

Artemis grabbed another arrow from her quiver, and raised her bow, taking aim at the target.

She released her two fingers, and the silver arrow tore through Orion's arrow.

The giant son of Poseidon smiled again.

"Alright then. How about a small bet?" Orion's smile grew, showing his yellowing teeth off to the goddess.

Artemis' silver eyes twinkled with light at that comment. "I'm listening."

"The loser owed the winner something, as long as it is within reason." Orion suggested, and Artemis nodded.

"Sure. Ten arrows. A hundred metres." Artemis agreed, and they both raised their bows, an arrow lodged in the string.

Two targets appeared in the distance. Arrows flew through the air, bull's-eye after bull's-eye.

Both ran up to their targets to see who had won.

Orion cursed under his breath. He had just missed one bull's-eye, off by a mere inch. Artemis had split most of hers, and as expected - all were in the bull's-eye.

Artemis grinned, and fist pumped into the air.

"Yes!" She cheered, dancing around the small clearing. "I win, you lose!"

Orion scowled. He hated losing. And no goddess was going to be a better hunter without being punished. Especially jeer at him.

***_WARNING_***

Before Artemis could blink, Orion had punched her in the sternum, and she fell down, struggling to breathe. Pulling out his hunting knife, Orion cut off the girl's _chiton_, exposing her naked body to the bitter night.

"What are you -?" Artemis was silenced by some of her clothes being bound around her mouth, like a gag. Her wrists and ankles were tied together, and an unspeakable crime happened.

The moon began to lose its shine; tears were brimming around the moon goddess' vibrant silver eyes.

Orion stood up and dusted himself off. "Nobody goes unpunished, Artemis. Not even you." Orion sneered, and redressed himself. Artemis just continued to lay there, shame swallowing her up.

***_WARNING OVER_***

She felt violated. Everything she had ever stood for had been destroyed by that one male. Her maidenhood had been ripped out of her.

Her form began to flicker slightly, the goddess feeling the majority of her power leave her. The moon slowly faded, the silver light in her eyes slowly diminishing.

The giant picked up his weaponry before running away, all emotion leaving his mind.

A golden flash appears in the distance.

"Artemis!" A distant voice called out.

_Apollo,_ Artemis thought. Gods, she had never been so relieved to hear her brother's voice. She opened her mouth to call him, but no sound came out.

"Holy mother of Zeus!" Her brother exclaimed, and light footsteps ran over to her.

The goddess' vision began to blur around the edges.

Apollo was crouched over her, pale. His sandy blonde hair was sticking up all over the place, like he had just woken up. His eyes were filled with worry.

He looked around, and whipped out his hunting knife, cutting his older sister's bindings off of her.

"Hold on sis," Apollo assured her, pulling Artemis into a small hug.

They vanished in a flash of gold, reappearing before a small cottage.

Apollo knocked on the door. A grown man opened up the door. He had long, blonde hair and icy blue eyes, like Apollo.

"Father," The man said curtly, "Why is Aunt Artemis in your arms?"

"She was raped, Asclepius." Was Apollo's simple answer, and his son ushered them into the cottage.

"Put her down there." The demigod pointed to a hammock in the corner of the place.

Asclepius grabbed a bunch of herbs from his cupboards, looking around for any remedies already made.

He saw Artemis' form flicker slightly as she laid there, her eyes half closed.

"Father," The demigod complained, "You forgot to mention that she was fading!"

"Wait..." Apollo held up his hands, whirling around on his son. "_WHAT?!_"

"She has no tie left. A lot of her power was taken from her because of her maidenhood being stolen by some man." Asclepius explained.

"I know when someone is fading, son, but I just didn't... You know... Expect her to fade when she has like... Uh... Eighty hunters? Yeah, eighty." Apollo looked thoughtful, before turning to his sister. He grasped her hand and rubbed circles in on the back of her palm.

"When will we know though?" The sun god asked.

"Soon. A few days at least." His son replied, using a mallet to crush some herbs up.

**_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Blood of the Moon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_**

"Well, sleeping beauty finally awakes."

Artemis opened up her eyes. She looked around, seeing a bright light blinding her vision. Two men with curly blonde hair looked over her.

Apollo and Asclepius.

"You okay, sis?" Apollo asked, and Artemis nodded weakly.

"Water," She croaked, her throat parched.

The healer ran away to get a small cup of water. His father helped the weak goddess sit up as he placed the beaker to the goddess' chapped, pink lips.

"Thank you..." She muttered, and Apollo held back a tear. She was still fading.

"Artemis..." Apollo spoke as calm as a brother could in that situation. "Who did this to you?"

Artemis felt torn. The only man she had ever trusted had just committed a heinous crime against her. He deserved a fate worse than death.

"Orion..." Her words were not followed by silence.

Asclepius ran into the kitchen as his father was on the verge of exploding.

"_WHAT?!_" Apollo roared, and prepared himself to enter his godly form.

"Just... Let him go... I'll deal with him." Artemis whispered, grabbing her brother's arm.

"You better kill him, Arty," Apollo warned. "Or I will. And it won't be pretty."

Artemis' arm dropped, and she felt a bit queasy.

There was a strange presence in her abdomen.

She didn't recognise it at all. It felt familiar to her though.

"How long was I out?" She asked her brother, dreading the answer.

"About three days. How come...?" Apollo arched an eyebrow, lowering himself to her level.

Artemis' eyes widened. It was impossible. She closed her eyes, and looked deep within her. She could see a small zygote. It was microscopic, but she could still see it.

Artemis gasped her eyes wide open.

"What is it?" Apollo asked.

"I'm... Pregnant..." Artemis said weakly, sweat running down her brow. She couldn't possible keep it. It might turn out to be like Orion - male or female.

Apollo's ocean blue eyes widened at that hearing that. His breath hitched. He didn't know wherever to be somewhat happy for his sister or use it as yet another excuse to kill the son of Poseidon in the most painful method imaginable.

"Artemis... Will you keep it?" The sun god asked.

Artemis had a small smile. No, she would raise her child. If it was male, she would raise him to never break a girl's heart, and to be loyal unlike her pig of a father, cousins and brothers. If it was female, she would raise her to protect every young child, like her, and follow in her footsteps.

"Yes," Artemis answered, "I will raise my child right. Once grown, I will become a hero greater than any other..." Artemis' smile grew slightly. "But I will need to kill Orion first, before he can rape another maiden."

Apollo's ears perked up at that. He was itching to slay the sea spawn. Even though Poseidon is his favourite uncle, because he guided their mother - Leto - to the island of Delos to give birth to her twins, Orion was not going to have a lighter punishment. He would put Orion's head on a pike, torturing him to death.

Apollo placed his hand on his sisters', rubbing circles on the back of it. "Then _we_ kill him. No man rapes my sister and escapes punishment."

Artemis nodded, weakly sitting up.

Asclepius walked back into the room, a small smile on his lips. "Good news, Aunt Artemis. You are no longer fading. Now, would you two care for some soup before leaving?"

Artemis nodded weakly. "That would be nice."

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Blood of the Moon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

Artemis looked around the forest, anxious. Her hunters were going to react badly to the news that she bore. Especially when they hear that Orion was the father of the child currently developing in her womb.

The goddess placed a hand over her stomach once more, and tried sensing the developing egg. She could feel a small pulse of energy, bringing a small smile to her red lips. Artemis wanted her child to live a long, healthy, peaceful life - but knew she couldn't. Monsters would attack her child constantly because it would be her first - meaning that it will have a strong scent.

Smoke raised high into the air, above the canopy of the forest. Silver tents were dotted around a small clearing in the woods. A number of twenty or so girls walked around the campsite, all with a quiver of bows on their back and a bow hanging over their shoulders.

Artemis entered the campsite, and all eyes turned to her.

As she passed the hunters, they would bow their head, saying "milady". The goddess couldn't help but think of what was going to occur when she tells the hunters the new. Well, everything _bad._

She lifted the flap of her tent and walked in, sighing as she sat down in her cot. Quicksilver-like sweat slid down her rosy cheeks.

Artemis placed a hand on her stomach. It was better to come clean now than leave it until later.

The moon goddess strode out of her tent. "Hunters! Gather around!" She barked as she walked over to the camp fire. Girls in silver chitons ran over to their mistress, some hopping out of trees while others dusting themselves off from play fighting.

"What is it, milady?" A hunter, Kallisto, asked - who was Artemis' current lieutenant.

"I come bearing some... Disturbing news..." Artemis said, her voice cracking slightly as negative thoughts swirled through her mind.

Heads perked up at this, all ears alert for what their mistress had to say.

"Orion... If he comes near... Kill him at first sight..." Artemis suddenly found her feet very interesting. "Orion... He raped me..."

All Hell broke loose. Hunters were cursing, while others went and grabbed their bows, ready to call a manhunt.

"I am also pregnant." Artemis added, and all eyes turned back to her, all of the hunters frozen in time. "I am also keeping the child. Orion will die... But by my hand in the future. I cannot bring myself to cause harm to my future son or daughter."

Kallisto's eyes narrowed. "Milady, this child may be just like Orion! A rapist!" She interjected.

"No they won't." Artemis snapped, her silver eyes glowing dangerously. "My child will be a hero greater than that of Perseus, son of Zeus! They will be like us - strong and independent!"

The huntress nodded in understanding. She couldn't change her mistress' mind, everyone knew that. But, they were also confident that Artemis would raise her child right.

"Then we want to help." A small smile graced Kallisto's lips. The other hunters around her each nodded their heads, all eager to help their mistress with the raising of her child.

**_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Blood of the Moon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_**

Minutes turned into hours. Hours turned into days. Days turned into weeks, and then turned into months.

Four months had passed, and a small baby bump was forming on the lower abdomen of Artemis.

The embryo was slowly growing into a baby, forming all of the features of a Human.

Some odd feeling told her that it would be more than a mere demigod. Orion was a son of Poseidon and Euryale, daughter of King Minos of Crete, from what the goddess remembered. It may be a full-blooded god, from all what Artemis knew.

The moon goddess touched her baby bump and closed her eyes. A smile graced her lips as she saw her child in its final stages in developing. She could see that it was slowly becoming a male.

"Milady?" Artemis opened her eyes and removed her hand from the skin above her womb.

Kallisto stood there, a grim look on her face. "What is it?" Artemis asked. Anger was hinted in her tone. She didn't know why, but the pregnancy was taking as long as one did with a regular mortal woman.

"We have a problem." Kallisto began, "Apollo is here with grim news."

Artemis stood, grunting as her joints clicked. She and her lieutenant walked over to the sun god.

"What news do you bring, Apollo?" Artemis asked.

"Well, I have been keeping many tabs on the mortal world for a while." Apollo begun. "And it seems that Orion has raped a maiden up in Asia Minor. In your temple, to be precise."

Artemis' silver eyes widened. No wonder she felt strange a few days. And stranger than her pregnancy.

"Where is he now?" The goddess asked. She was dying to torture her ex-friend to a fate worse than death, and then send him to an eternity in oblivion.

"I am not sure. But, I have heard whispers that he has gone insane. Gaea is also growing weary of him. She may kill him... I am not all too sure." The sun god answered. He was itching to rip the son of Poseidon apart. Poseidon was awesome - but Orion was every negative flaw of every male.

Orion was conniving, sly, sadistic and intelligent: Everything to know how to piss of _anyone_; Especially Artemis and Apollo.

But what Apollo didn't mention, was that Orion had also gone on a killing spree of a lot of creatures: From bears and deer to bumblebees and other little critters. He even gutted a worm before shredding it apart.

Artemis turned to her hunters and barked out a few orders. "Pack up! We have a lead on our man-hunt!" Her attention then turned back to her twin brother, Apollo.

"When was the crime committed?" She inquired.

"A few nights ago. So I suggest you hurry. I'm even willing to take you all there via my sun chariot." Apollo offered.

"And how do you plan to do that?" The moon goddess arched her eyebrow, challenging the sun god.

"It's not too hard. To make things easier, we could just flash over to there. I doubt the Hunters could all come, however..." Apollo's voice wavered slightly, doubting that even any member of the Hunt could join him and Artemis.

"Milady." A hunter came running over to Artemis and Apollo. "Father." She greeted the two. "We have finished packing. When do we leave?"

The huntress had light freckles on her nose, and had long, curly ginger hair. Her build, however, was fairly big and beefy. Her eyes were an icy, calculating blue; being on the receiving end of a glare from those eyes would possibly be as bad as meeting eyes with Medusa. In other words, the result wouldn't be good.

"Phoebe." Apollo gave her a small, weak smile. He loved all of his children, even though he had quite a _few_. He was glad that she was alive and well.

"Phoebe, could you tell all of the Hunters to gather around? We need to travel quickly." The impregnated goddess requested.

"Sure thing, Lady Artemis." Phoebe ran off to fulfil her mistress' demand.

Artemis winced slightly and held her swollen womb. There was a small discomfort, like the baby had shifted slightly.

Her hand glowed and she closed her eyes. She smiled. A small, baby boy was starting to form. She could just make out his tiny, chubby fingers forming gradually, along with his chunky legs that oddly reminded her of chicken drum-sticks that Aunt Hestia would make on the odd occasion.

The only ones who knew about Artemis being pregnant were Apollo, Asclepius, Hestia and possibly Hera and Aphrodite. Gaea would also have some knowledge of her rape. And would hopefully help her by ending Orion.

"Are you alright, Artemis?" Apollo asked.

The goddess snapped open her eyes and nodded, removing her hand from her abdomen. She was somewhat disappointed that there wasn't a daughter. But that wouldn't stop her from giving her son the same amount of affection.

"Yes... Just thinking. I should have gone after Orion all of those months ago. Maybe I could have prevented all of these atrocities committed by that wretched male." Artemis couldn't help but feel a sense of guilt bubble up inside of her.

"Don't blame yourself, sis. You were severely weakened by the events. It would have been stupid to charge Orion that soon, because he could have harmed the baby severely." Apollo argued, lifting his sister's chin up so they met eyes.

Artemis pulled her brother into a soft hug, showing their brother and sister relationship. He may annoy her beyond belief sometimes (she once wanted to throw herself into Tartarus to escape her little brother's annoying antics) but he was her brother - and brothers live to annoy their sisters - older or younger.

"Thank you, little brother." Artemis smiled, pulling back from the embrace.

"No problem. Wait, I'm the older one!" He complained, and Artemis gave a small chuckle.

"In your wildest dreams, Apollo."

The Hunters then came along.

"We are ready to go, Milady." Kallisto announced.

Artemis nodded.

"Hold hands, and hold on tight. Apollo is helping us get to Asia Minor and joining us on this hunt for Orion." All eyes flashed at the mention of the rapist, bastard son of Poseidon.

"Close your eyes!" Apollo warned, and all of them vanished in a bright flash of silver and gold.

**_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Blood of the Moon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_**

**And I am done! Whew! That took a while to write. Some people will possibly be like "Are Artemis and Apollo getting together?" and I'm going to answer that here and now: no. They will retain their traditional brother/sister relationship.**

**So, without much to say, I'm going to estimate when the next update will be… A week at the earliest – a month at the most. I still have one other story which draws my attention, and a third one that needs starting sooner or later.**

**So, please leave a review! It will motivate me more, which leads to longer chapters – maybe even quicker chapters!**

**Until next time!**

**~The Prince of Souls**


	2. 2: Vengence is Sweet

**I wish you a Merry Christmas,**

**I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!**

**How's it going guys? Here is chapter 2! I don't have much to say other than this is out earlier than expected.**

**Also, last chapter has been fixed! Like, Gaea isn't Orion's mother. I could have sworn that she was… But then he would never be able to die, so yeah…**

**On that happy note, enjoy the chapter!**

**_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Blood of the Moon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_**

An arrow was pulled back, before her index and middle finger released the string. The silver arrow soared through the air, and tore through the neck of a deer.

With a grin, she hopped out of her hiding spot and ran over to the deer. "Come and give me a hand, sisters!" She called out behind her.

Two girls in silver jumped out of the trees or the bushes surrounding the Huntress and deer carcass.

The two girls who came out after their sister picked the heavy, sinewy deer up onto their shoulders and walked off. The huntress who got the kill simply plucked another silver arrow from her quiver and placed the butt of the arrow onto her bow string, pulling back slightly. Nothing was going to take their food or attack them without being killed or turned into a pincushion.

Both would have been satisfying.

They walked into a rather large campsite. Twenty girls were dotted around the area, some just simply chatting while others trained in archery. The youngest of the girls were playing tag, ducking around the tents and some of the trees and bushes. Some girls, however, were stood around camp, their eyes darting around - guard duty.

"Lady Artemis!" The Hunter (who had killed the deer) called. "Look at our catch of today!"

A grumpy looking goddess walked out of a tent. It was slightly larger than most of the others, signifying that she was the leader of the Huntresses. She looked around sixteen/seventeen at age, and had long, luscious auburn hair cascading down her back. Her eyes were large and shone bright and mesmerising silver.

She looked up at the deer, and smiled slightly. "Good catch girls. Now, you three get the honours or gutting and cooking her."

All three girls looked slightly sickened, their jobs around camp obviously being far away from the kitchen.

Artemis returned to her tent, and sat down on her bed. The tents were enlarged (somewhat) on the inside, so they were the size of a small hut. It was useful where Artemis could always leave everything in her tent that she didn't need, and it would stay in the tent until they were unfolded again.

She rested her hand on her abdomen, and smiled as she saw her son within her womb. "Do you want some juicy venison for dinner tonight?" She asked aloud, and laughed a bit when her son shifted in her womb as if it was excited for venison.

The goddess of the hunt sighed with joy before removing hand from her lower abdomen and lying down. She was getting exhausted too easily lately. She was not sure if it was due to her pregnancy or what, but it was strongly irritating her. She could barely trust herself to go and hunt.

Eventually, Artemis drifted off to sleep.

It was not the most pleasant of things. She did like that she was surrounded by nature. But she hated the darkness around her, and the eerie silence.

"_My child..._" A weak, croaky voice entered Artemis' ears.

The goddess looked around, drawing her hunting knives in case of a threat. Nobody was going to harm her son.

"_Artemis..._" The goddess looked down at the ground beneath her feet.

"_Please... I can guide you to your prey..._" The voice managed.

"Gaea?" Artemis asked, sheathing her knives. She knelt down, so she was closer to the earth.

"_Artemis... The Massacre of the Wild occurs... Seek him in the place of your meeting. Be quick, he will soon leave..._" Gaea said weakly.

Artemis smiled. "Thank you, Lady Gaea. You have my gratitude."

"_Raise your son right... Make a warrior out of him... But please learn to let go..._" The _Protengoi_ of Earth whispered, and Artemis lifted her head, arching an eyebrow as she looked at Mother Earth.

"What do you mean, Gaea?" Artemis asked in a demanding manner.

Before she could get her answer, however, the Moon goddess was dragged from her dream.

She shot awake, sitting fully upright.

Artemis jumped out of her bed and ran out of her tent. Kallisto was nearby, and Artemis ran up to her.

"Milady, how can I-"

"Break camp, and travel to Delos as fast as you can. I will meet you there." Artemis said hastily, before running away, and out of the camp.

The Lieutenant of the Hunt turned to her fellow huntresses. "Hunters!" She commanded, "Break camp! We travel to Delos!"

Artemis, despite being pregnant, was far ahead of her fellow hunters. Within an hour, the Goddess of the Moon was nearing the border of Asia Minor, and showed no sign of slowing down.

The forests filled Artemis with exhilaration, and when couldn't help but feel stronger as she gracefully darted through the trees, jumping over fallen trees and high roots and ducking under low branches.

Shortly afterwards, Artemis was crossing the Turkish border into Greece, and ran across the shore line.

Apollo's sun chariot slowly left the sky as the Holy Island of Delos loomed over the horizon. Artemis knew that her duties of driving the Moon Chariot were calling her, but she refused to give into it.

Orion was on Delos, and he was not going to leave alive. She couldn't allow him to hurt another innocent, or slip from her grasp once more - and possibly her last chance to give him the definition of _pain_.

Night had finally set in when she crossed across the islands to Delos. She sighed and breathed in deeply. The land was sacred, and inhabitants were forbidden from settling on the island. This was because Artemis and Apollo were born there, the two children of Zeus. Artemis had her father wrapped around her little finger, while Apollo was the child always over Zeus' knee for a spanking.

Artemis summoned her bow, and pulled the string back. A silver arrow shimmered into existence, a soft glow emitting from the projectile.

The goddess' vibrant silver eyes looked around the shore of the Holy Island. The treacherous, bastard son of Poseidon was bound to be nearby. Artemis took a few steps forward, and ducked, narrowly avoiding a sleek black arrow from the tree line.

"Orion!" Artemis snarled, regaining her composure. She aimed her arrow back at the trees, and a fully grown man came out.

The moon started to rise in the East. Artemis had to thank Selene or her little brother later on for covering for her. Hopefully they understood the situation.

The silver light basked the both of them. It would have looked romantic, other than the fact that a blood bath was about to occur.

The man had short, raven black hair. It looked as if he had cut his hair himself with a piece of sharp flint. He had not changed his clothes in a while, Artemis had gathered. He had quickly washed though, as it had not gotten rid of a few of the blood stains on his clothes. That was most likely from all of the maidens he had raped.

"So, this is how it's going to be Artemis? I thought we had something going on between us." Orion chuckled, grinning darkly. He, too, had an arrow aimed at Artemis.

Artemis snarled, her lips curling in a frown. She wanted to turn Orion into a pincushion, but she knew that the rapist could avoid the arrow and easily return fire before she would have been able to nock another arrow.

"Silence mortal, before I make sure that you go to Tartarus." The goddess threatened.

"Oh please. We both know that we are equal in skill." Orion had unfortunately caught onto her bluff. "But... There is an alternative."

Artemis arched an eyebrow at the son of Poseidon. She couldn't help but be curious at his offer, but she had to be suspicious. She couldn't allow a repeat of last time to occur.

"And what would that be? We call quits? I do not think so, you bastard! You _raped_ me! You _stole_ my _chastity! _And for **_what_** reason, you sick son of a bitch?!" Artemis screamed, and Orion rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, so? I screwed you - so what? We were bound to do it some time. And I wanted to do it then. Also, you deserved punishment. Nobody should be able to beat me at archery - especially a _girl._" The demigod spat.

"No, to our compromise. We drop our bows, and fight hand to hand. Seem good?" He added.

Artemis narrowed her eyes. She knew what he was doing. He was going to be better than her at close-combat, due to her used to hunting with her bow. A spear could falls under her skills, but she had gotten rusty over the many years.

Giving in, Artemis nodded her head.

Both of them threw their bows away. Artemis wasn't going to give in so easily. She was going to give him pain before he would die.

Orion drew a long sword. It was celestial bronze and mortal steel, with a black leather hilt. He then pulled out a hunting knife/dagger, and held it in hammer grip.

The Goddess of the Hunt drew her two silver hunting knives; each was the length of her forearm. She held both in ice-pick grip.

The Son of Poseidon rushed Artemis, and stabbed at Artemis. She side-stepped the strike, and drove her fist into Orion's nose.

It broke upon impact, crimson red blood flying high into the air.

Orion snapped his head back, and roundhouse kicked Artemis, sending her sprawling across the rocky shore.

"When I kill you, I will carve our son from your body. Maybe we could be partners in crime..." Orion grinned darkly, walking over to the goddess. She hacked up some ichor before switching one knife into hammer grip and stabbed at the male.

He moved backwards, narrowly missing the knife from taking his knee out. He went to kick Artemis again, but she rolled out of the way and sprung up to her feet.

Orion made a diagonal slash at her with his sword, and she parried the strike with her knife held in hammer-grip. The blades slid across one another so their hilts met. Sparks of steel, bronze and silver flew as the two pieces of metal scraped across each other.

Orion's poisonous green eyes glowed with anger. He flicked his wrist and Artemis' knife went flying. He quickly cut at Artemis, slicing her cheek wide open.

Golden ichor flowed out of the wound.

Orion knocked Artemis' other knife out her grasp, and punched her down to the ground. Grabbing his sword, he dragged the blade down her arms and legs. The sharp metal bit into her skin, causing her great pain.

Artemis had closed her eyes tightly, holding back the tears from coming out.

The ground began to shake, like an earthquake. A fissure opened up in the ground.

_HISS!_

A cry of pain caught Artemis' attention. She opened up her eyes, and saw that a scorpion had come out of the ground and had stung Orion in the knee.

The son of Poseidon had kicked it and went over to finish it, thinking that Artemis was unconscious due to all of the pain he had put her through. Artemis crawled over and grabbed her silver hunting knife, and shakily stood up.

The silver light from the moon shone over her, the moon beams pushing small amounts of energy into her to help her walk.

Orion stabbed the scorpion and turned around.

The silver hunting knife slid into Orion's stomach.

Fear lit up his eyes. As well as pain.

The goddess barely managed to pull her knife out of Orion's abdomen as he fell to the ground, his intestines slipping out of his body.

"Ha... I underestimated you, love..." Orion chuckled weakly, spitting up some blood.

The goddess saw red. She raised her knife.

"Don't!" She stabbed his stomach once. "Call!" She stabbed his chest, collapsing a lung. "Me!" Another stab occurred, but this time in the shoulder. "LOVE!" She roars, stabbing her old best friend in the heart.

Orion gasped. He was wheezing, unable to talk. Every time he breathed in, it sounded like he was suffocating.

The man-hater twisted the blade once. "That was for all of the maidens you have hurt." She twisted it again. "That was for being the father of _my_ son." She pulled the knife out, before stabbing it down on his groin. "And that, Orion, was for daring to rape me, and ruin me."

Artemis pulled her knife out of Orion's groin, caked in blood, and looked at Orion's mechanical eyes as the dimmed.

"Rot in Tartarus." She snarled, stabbing Orion in the heart once more. She raised the knife, and continued to repeatedly stab Orion's corpse. She let the tears fall.

"I hate you..." She cried, leaning on her dagger.

Hours passed by, and the night crept away. The sun peaked up the horizon, signalling that Apollo was taking to the sky.

Girls in silver began to file out onto Delos, searching for their mistress. They spotted Artemis leaning over Orion, crying.

"Milady!" Kallisto cried, and ran up to her patron goddess.

Artemis was weak. The girls laid her down a little away from the dead Son of Poseidon, and began to set up camp.

Orion's body the suddenly glowed silver, and turned into silvery mist. It flew high into the air, and into the sky.

Stars suddenly shone through the dim sky, showing a new constellation - _The Hunter._

Artemis saw it, and her eyes snapped open.

No sadness was in them. Only _anger. _Only two gods were powerful enough to place someone in the sky: Artemis and her father, Zeus.

Without a warning, Artemis flashed away to Olympus.

None understood what was wrong, until they looked up at Orion's constellation.

**_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Blood of the Moon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_**

**_On Olympus..._**

Artemis was beyond furious. Her eyes were puffy and red. Thankfully, Zeus was in the throne room. With him, was Poseidon.

They were quietly talking on their thrones.

"Father!" Artemis yelled, and both pairs of eyes.

"Artemis... Are you okay?" Zeus asked.

The Moon goddess summoned her bow and aimed an arrow at her father.

"No. I obviously wasn't. You put _Orion_ into the sky." She snarled.

"Niece," Poseidon came to his brother's defence (for once). "I saw you crying over my son's dead body. I thought you were sad over his unfortunate death. So I asked Zeus to place him in the sky on your behalf."

Artemis fired the arrow at Poseidon, getting him right on the arm.

"THAT BASTARD _RAPED_ MANY MAIDENS!" She screamed, another arrow shimmering into existence as she pulled back on the string once more.

"What do you mean, my child?" Zeus asked his lightning bolt crackling.

"Orion raped a number or mortals under my nose. I caught him, and have been hunting him for a while... He needed to die by my hand!" Artemis sneered, and Poseidon's sea green eyes widened.

Zeus turned to his older brother. "POSEIDON!" Zeus thundered, and blasted Poseidon.

Artemis shot her father in the arm, making the bolt travel off course.

"You're just as guilty! Now I have to look at that rapist every time I look up to the stars!" She snapped.

Zeus instantly put his bolt down and tried to play it innocent. His daughter was angry - which meant that she would do reckless and _insane_ things.

"_Zeus..._" Artemis' voice was venomous. "Would you remove Orion from the sky?"

The King of the Gods knew that he was trapped. He couldn't give into his daughter's every demand, but he also couldn't risk angering his daughter any more. She would possibly go on a massacre, him being the top of her hit list.

"I am sorry, Artemis, but that cannot be done." Zeus said nervously. "Once someone or something is placed upon the stars, they cannot be brought down. Not even Leto's sister can do that."

_Yeah, _Artemis thought, _if you didn't imprison every Titan on Earth, even those who helped us._

Artemis fired another arrow at her father. "I hope you fall into Tartarus and die a painful death." She snarled.

Artemis stormed out of the throne room and flashed away to her home island, Delos.

The Hunters of Artemis had moved their campsite into the dense forests of Delos to hide themselves from any mortals who trekked across the Holy Island.

Artemis entered the camp, and greeted the girls for breakfast. She felt bad for making the girls go without food for over 12 hours, but she couldn't let Orion escape.

"Milady, are you alright?" Kallisto asked, walking over to her patron goddess.

Artemis shook her head. "Orion was placed among the stars due to Poseidon and Zeus' stupidity. And now cannot take the rapist bastard back down from the stars."

A thought began to enter Artemis' mind.

"Oh. That is one honour a male never deserves." Kallisto stated. She knew that it was obvious, and what Artemis was thinking, but she couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Hold on..." A small, wicked grin formed on Artemis' face. She ran back towards where she had fought and killed her rapist.

The scorpion was still there; the fissure it had come out of wasn't there though. The pregnant goddess ran over to it and knelt down next to it.

"For aiding my in exterminating Orion, I will let you be known among the stars. Scorpio." Artemis chanted a few words, and the scorpion evaporated into silver smoke, which floated into Artemis' open hand.

She brought her closed hand close to her luscious, red lips. "You will torment Orion forever, reminding him of his crimes." Artemis opened her hand and blew the silver smoke flying high.

The new constellation glowed brightly: Scorpio. It was right next to The Hunter, Orion. It was exactly where Artemis wanted it to go.

She returned to the camp with a small smile gracing her lips.

"What did you do, milady?" Phoebe asked. Her ginger hair was pulled back into a pony tail.

"Scorpio is Orion's new best friend." Artemis simply said, and pointed to the bright, morning sky.

She felt calm (well, as calm as a pregnant woman could be) for the first time in a while. At peace. She had killed her rapist. He may have deserved a worse death, but the worst punishment for any father was for their children to hate him.

And hate him would her son.

**_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Blood of the Moon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_**

**And I am done! Finally!**

**I would love to thank all of you guys for reviewing, following and favouring this story so far! I mean, 57 followers, and 20 reviews? That is awesome!**

**Some of you guys think that Artemis is out of character, that is true, but she wasn't much of a man-hater in ancient times, especially during the Orion incident.**

**I'll get around to reply to the reviews shortly, since I have nothing else to do for tonight. Then, it's CHRISTMAS TOMORROW! YIPPEE!**

**So, yeah, Merry Christmas for all of you guys! Hope you all have fun!**

**And as always, review! Next chapter will be coming shortly!**

**~ The Prince of Souls**


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